The $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) is the longest race of the World Championships, for older horses going 1 1/2 miles over the Del Mar course. Defending champion and Prince of Wales's (G1) winner Highland Reel was the 7-5 favorite off a 3rd place finish in the QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1). In to challenge him included 7-2 Beach Patrol, winner of the Arlington Million (G1) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1), and 11-1 Decorated Knight, winner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) and Irish Champion Stakes (G1).
Talismanic leads in the stretch
22-1 Oscar Performance set the pace of 23.69, 48.33, 1:12.86, 1:38.00, and 2:02.44 while pressed by Beach Patrol and stalked by Highland Reel. Into the lane, Beach Patrol gained a short lead but 14-1 Talismanic, 5th early under Mickael Barzalona, rallied on the outside to win by 1/2 a length in 2:26.19. It was a neck back to Highland Reel third.
Left: Talismanic in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Mickael Barzalona said, "Right I can't believe it. I am thrilled to have won my first Breeders' Cup race. I expected the horse to run well, but I'm not sure I thought I would win. Mr. Fabre is a great trainer."
Right: The trophy presentation for the Turf.
Left: Talismanic in the post parade. Joe Osborne, chief executive of owner Godolphin said, "He's by Medaglia d'Oro so you have to figure he'd do well over here so that certainly was a factor. But I know Andre has always regarded this horses quite highly so I hink we're certainly more concerned about fast ground. You could see today he loved it."
Right: Talismanic exits the tunnel before the race. He was my pick all week for prettiest horse and not just for his coloring, but he always acted like he was ready to kick butt.
Left: Second place finisher Beach Patrol races in second first time by. Jockey Joel Rosario said, "Broke perfect. Beautiful. I followed the speed and saw (Highland Reel) to my inside, so I held my position. Turning for home, he took off, but (Talismanic) was far out from me, so my horse couldn't see him and my horse is a fighter. He ran well. The fractions were fast but he likes to run like that. It was a good run. It's just too bad one horse beat us right at the end."
Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite Highland Reel returns after the race. Jockey Ryan Moore said, "He seemed to be laboring today. He didn't have that usual oomph. They went quick and he rolled a bit down the straight."
First time down the stretch in the Turf with Oscar Performance leading followed by Beach Patrol and Highland Reel. Notice the birds flying in the bottom right.
2017 Breeders' Cup Wrap Up - Records set, statistics, first-time winning jockeys and trainers, how previous winners finished, and more for the 34th running of the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.
2017 Breeders' Cup Saturday - There were nine Breeders' Cup races on Saturday at Del Mar headlined by the Classic (G1) where Gun Runner won over Collected. Also on the card, Talismanic won the Turf (G1), World Approval won the Mile (G1), and Good Magic won the Juvenile (G1). Get the results, charts, and photos for all 12 stakes on the card. More photos: Classic - Turf - Juvenile - Mile - Sprint - F&M Turf - F&M Sprint - Turf Sprint - Juvenile Fillies
2017 Breeders' Cup Friday - There were four Breeders' Cup races on Friday at Del Mar headlined by the Distaff (G1) where Forever Unbridled held off Abel Tasman to win by a half length. Also on the card, Rushing Fall won the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), Battle of Midway won the Dirt Mile (G1), and Mendelssohn won the Juvenile Turf (G1). Get the results, charts, and photos for all 8 stakes on the card. More photos: Juvenile Turf -
Juvenile Fillies Turf - Dirt Mile - Distaff
2017 Breeders' Cup Entries - Entries closed Monday and post positions were drawn for the 13 Breeders' Cup Championship races on November 3 and 4 at Del Mar. The Classic will have a field of 11 with Gun Runner in post 5 the 9-5 favorite over Arrogate in post 1 at 2-1.
Breeders' Cup Weather - Check out the latest weather forecasts for the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar
Review: Crushing the Cup 2017 - by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallett. An invaluable tool for trying to unlock the mysteries of handicapping the Breeders' Cup races at Del Mar. Updated for 2017, this is their 26th anniversary edition and first for Del Mar.
2016 Breeders' Cup Saturday Results - The feature race was the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic won by Arrogate. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 9 races here.
2016 Breeders' Cup Friday Results - Friday was headlined by the $2 million Ladies Classic won by Beholder. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 4 races here.
Breeders' Cup History - Historical info, past results, and photos from previous runnings
The Breeders' Cup Championship Day - The official page for the Breeders' Cup championship races. Just about anything you need to know about it: results, video clips, and race calls for past years, and eventually nominations, entries, and results.
Free Prep Replays - for major prep races in the Breeders' Cup Challenge. The ones with camera logos have video available.
Breeders' Cup Postcards - Breeders' Cup theme virtual postcards to send your friends including many past winners
Breeders' Cup Supplemental Entries - The old official policy on supplemental entries plus all the supplemental entries and how they fared, mostly it was a losing proposition. There are no more supplements now, only late nominations making it impossible to track since the change.
Left: Talismanic in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Mickael Barzalona said, "Right I can't believe it. I am thrilled to have won my first Breeders' Cup race. I expected the horse to run well, but I'm not sure I thought I would win. Mr. Fabre is a great trainer."
Left: Talismanic in the post parade. Joe Osborne, chief executive of owner Godolphin said, "He's by Medaglia d'Oro so you have to figure he'd do well over here so that certainly was a factor. But I know Andre has always regarded this horses quite highly so I hink we're certainly more concerned about fast ground. You could see today he loved it."
Left: Second place finisher Beach Patrol races in second first time by. Jockey Joel Rosario said, "Broke perfect. Beautiful. I followed the speed and saw (Highland Reel) to my inside, so I held my position. Turning for home, he took off, but (Talismanic) was far out from me, so my horse couldn't see him and my horse is a fighter. He ran well. The fractions were fast but he likes to run like that. It was a good run. It's just too bad one horse beat us right at the end."
